Relationships are rarely ever smooth from beginning to end. A couple may go through rough patches and have some friction with each other at some point in any lasting relationship. However, it’s imperative to draw the line between conflict and violence. As we all know, violence is never the answer, and abuse within the home is dangerous and toxic and can lead to many problems. In cases where domestic violence occurs, it’s vital to create distance and seek legal counsel to help you address the issue before it gets any further out of hand.

It’s vital to know your options when you’re in a relationship that involves domestic violence. A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) is a key option that has many uses in these circumstances. Not very much unlike a typical restraining order, a TRO will protect you from the violent person in the home in the short period before the hearing for the restraining order. To acquire a TRO, you need to file a statement under oath explaining why you believe you need it. Depending on how the case is presented, a TRO can keep a parent away from the children, or spouses away from each other until the hearing for the restraining order at a later date. However, a TRO will not prevent someone from entering a property they own, and cannot require a parent pay for child support in the time before the hearing. A TRO is merely an avenue for protection in the downtime between when a restraining order is filed and when it will be heard in court.

According to thisfamily attorney in Houston, Texas, those sharing a lease with an abusive partner in the state of Texas, they can terminate a lease without a penalty from the landlord. This is designed specifically to protect those in abusive situations from being forced to remain in contact with their abuser. However, for someone in an abusive relationship to legally request this right or be guaranteed not to receive penalties, they must meet precise criteria which include:

Both partners are registered tenants on the lease

A temporary or permanent restraining order has been obtained

Your landlord has been given sufficient warning in advance, usually 30 days

You leave the apartment on the date agreed upon with the landlord

Some of these requirements are harder to meet than others, so it’s imperative you take action to meet these requirements as soon as possible if you find yourself in an abusive situation. With an attorney’s help, these requirements can be met more quickly and efficiently, with someone keeping an eye on the process every step of the way. Domestic violence is a very serious issue that demands timeliness and precision for the victims to remain safe and get out of their abusive relationship.

Craft beer is all the buzz in America. But just how big is it? The numbers suggest it’s not just a niche market anymore. In fact, the numbers suggest craft beer is taking over.

As of last year, the craft beer sector took up more than 12% of the overall American beer market. According to the Brewer’s Association, there are now well over 5,000 brewers in America, and almost all of them are part of the craft brewery revolution.

Not only are craft breweries growing in number and in market share, they are creating whole new sectors for business growth. To begin with, they employ about 129,000 people just in the brewing process. Beyond that, whole side industries are cropping up to help water America’s thirst for quality beer. Products like the Growler Chiller—a new device that helps you keep your growlers fresh for weeks and lets you keep them on tap—are springing up everywhere.

Though the same old dreary mainstream beer brands are still eating up most of the American beer market, the numbers suggest that craft beer is ready to snowball into a major economic power player, if it isn’t one already.

The retail side is already a heavy hitter, bringing in more than $23 billion in sales in 2015 (which was a more than 10% increase from the year before). That number made up a fifth of all beer sales.

On top of that, there are now plenty of bars that specialize only in craft products. 1,916 craft brewpubs mark an 11% increase from the year before. There are also more than 3,000 microbreweries and 186 regional craft breweries. Those are some impressive numbers.

With numbers like the ones above, it’s hard to imagine the craft beer world going anywhere but up. And the reasons are obvious. First and foremost, craft beer is just better. It’s American made, providing American jobs, and using American know-how. Craft beers are adaptable where the old brands are still selling the same beer they were fifty years ago. Craft beer is hipper, better with its marketing, and many are tailored to the tastes of a particular state or region. Budweiser can’t compete with those dynamics. All the King of Beers can do is wait to be toppled.

Most importantly, craft beer tastes better. Though you can’t put all craft beers into a single category (their diversity in taste is, of course, part of their charm), they are on a whole significantly more satisfying and palatable than anything Miller or Anheuser-Busch has to offer.

Don’t believe me? You don’t have to. Just look at the numbers above. The scales have tipped, and craft beer is on its way to taking over the whole market.

If there is one thing that’s certain about selling mineral rights, it’s the cash that is ready to be placed in your hands – not tomorrow, but today. The oil and gas business is definitely risky and shaky so that an offer amounting to millions of dollars today can suddenly go kaput because of the “hold on and never sell” principle.

Selling mineral rights is still a hot issue among property owners along shale regions – areas where oil and gas exploration activities are most active. These areas include the Marcellus shale, Niobrara shale, Haynesville shale and Eagle Ford shale, among others. Places where exploration for gas and oil is intense means a significant cash bonus for owners, but only if their mineral rights are on lease at the moment or owners would decide to sell mineral rights for a really big lump-sum.

Not long ago, one family was offered $4 million, while another was offered as much as $12 million by a company willing to buy their mineral rights. Both refused to sell, thinking that their properties would produce much and that the amounts were not big enough.

Wells were drilled near their properties, not long after; the natural gas produced from the drilled sites, however, was far below than what the company had hoped for. Good for the company – it did not have to spend millions of dollars for nothing. For the two families, though, it was a very, very big and disappointing loss for what could have given them millions of dollars are now worth nothing at all.

Can holding on to mineral rights prove wiser than selling it? Even big companies with producing leaseholds decide to sell eventually – this is the trend in the oil business. Many owners too, in the past, have stuck to the practice of selling their rights than leasing or holding on to these. The amount you can get from the sale will also definitely be useful for future financial concerns such as retirement funds and the education of your child/children. A part of it may also be used for a relaxing vacation, a holiday escapade which you deserve, or to pay off the balance of your mortgage (if you have mortgaged your property), to save it from being foreclosed or to save you from having to file for bankruptcy.

Thus, choosing not to sell when a company offers to buy can be a decision that you may regret in the future. On the other hand, opting to hold on to your property and leasing it instead may also yield fruit in due time; the only question is, how long will that time be?

Some owners decide on leasing half of their mineral rights and keeping the other half untouched. A wise decision? What if the leased half comes short of the company’s expectations, or worse, produces nothing at all? Your whole property will then be worth nothing.

You can base your decision on these two arguments, then; take the risk of not selling, which can end up with your property being worthless or worth very little, or decide to sell everything, which can save you from the inconvenience of negotiating with the leasing company and which will allow you to immediately put to use and enjoy the big cash that is ready for payment. Which will it be?

Take away the complexity of the divorce process and what remains can be an emotional and demoralizing experience heard and decided by a judge in a court where anyone can sit in to witness the whole procedure. But besides the divorce process itself, there are also the many other issues, such as spousal support, division of assets, properties and debts, and child custody, child support and visitation rights, which can be equally stressing, especially if one spouse would try to prove that the other is an unfit parent to the child.

It cannot be argued that it would require court hearings in order to settle some divorce cases, specifically those wherein divorcing couple refuse to agree and choose not to give in to each other’s demands or wishes. Once a divorce case is filed in a court, however, couples should know that when a judge makes his/her decision, such decision is final, whether the spouses find it agreeable (a court decision may be changed by a judge, though, after the party requesting for a change is able to present new evidences that will substantiate his/her claim. One example is a request for an increase in the amount of child support due to a promotion or a considerable increase in the salary of the obligor or non-custodial parent).

There are divorcing couples, though, who choose to maintain the privacy of their marital problems and prefer to make their own decisions on all matters that they need to settle. Towards this means of settling divorce, some choose arbitration.

Divorce Arbitration is a process wherein an arbitrator or a third party individual (can be a lawyer or a retired judge), who acts as a private judge, is chosen and hired by the spouses themselves. After the spouses prepare their arguments and evidences which will be presented to the arbitrator by their respective lawyers, the arbitrator decides on their case based on the arguments and evidences presented. The divorce issues that can be settled in arbitration include child custody, visitation rights and schedule, child and/or spousal support, division of property and assets, and modifications to a former divorce decree.

An article on divorce arbitration that is found in a website with the address, www.marshalltaylorlawfirm.com, it is said that, “Though many divorces are taken care of through uncontested settlements, some couples are not able to reach an agreement on divorce terms and require legal action to settle. However, this does not mean that every couple has to go to court and do battle with their spouse. Divorce arbitration provides an alternative to court that allows couples to resolve their divorce settlement disagreements without an extensive, expensive court trial. Instead of a judge hearing a case in court, an objective third party – an arbiter – hears the case from each party and then makes a decision.

Some benefits of divorce arbitration include:

Selection of arbiter by the couple

Avoidance of a nasty and public court battle

Saving a little money (court is expensive)

Time-sensitive arbitration: you pick the time of meeting

These benefits have convinced many couples that divorce arbitration is the best way to settle their divorce settlement disagreements, and an experienced divorce attorney can help you decide if this choice is right for you.”

Crimes that inflict severe harm to innocent victims are considered serious offenses under both federal and state laws. These are given very heavy punishments, such as costly fines and many years of imprisonment (some are even given life sentences).

Examples of these serious offenses include treason or betrayal of one’s country, which is the most serious in the U.S., murder or the unlawful planned killing of another person, and sex crimes, such as rape, predatory sexual assault, sexual battery and sex offenses committed against a child.

Sexual battery, specifically, refers is any form of non-consensual or unwanted sexual contact or touching, without involving sexual intercourse or penetration (in some states, however, this crime is called criminal sexual penetration, rape, sexual assault, child molestation or indecency with a child, if the sexual contact is done to a minor. This type of sexual crime is also most often committed by someone who may be a relative, a dating partner, a classmate, a neighbor, an acquaintance, a co-worker, a friend, a family member, or even a spouse. While each state has its own statutes on sexual battery, the term/s used to refer to the crime also varies/vary from one state to another.

Contrary to what many think that sexual battery is motivated by sexual desire, the act is rather an aggressive attack and a violent crime that is aimed at humiliating, hurting and controlling the victim through sex (which is used as a means or weapon). In some states, if the crime is committed by someone over 17 years old to a victim below the age of 12, with the victim eventually sustaining injuries to the sexual organ as a result of the assault, then the crime is considered a capital felony, the sentence for which can be life imprisonment or death.

Sex crime defense lawyers know how serious it is to be accused of a sex offense. It can be a very challenging case to defend, especially is the authorities are biased, working hard to prove the guilt of the accused, failing to consider the possibility of his/her innocence. In a trial case, though all evidence may seem directed at convicting the accused, a very strong defense may turn the tide and result to an acquittal. However, this may be possible only with the help of a highly-competent sex crime defense lawyer.